Hallo hallo! This is it! My sequel to "Two Guys, a Girl, and a Giant Lizard." It's a series work, so stay tuned for more. But before I begin, a few notes. This is a post-TF work. If you haven't seen the movie, Tenchi Forever, you might have a problem. First, you might not understand a few things, and second, it's rife with spoilers. If you haven't seen Tenchi Forever and, for some reason I can't imagine, are planning on seeing it soon, you might want to wait a bit before reading this. Truth be told, I don't think you'd have a problem understanding it, though. Tenchi Muyo is the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC. I own only the writing itself. Ssedrey is the property of Daniel Powell and is on loan for this fic. Thanks Scales! Now then, with that said, on with the fic! Destiny's Balance: Part 1, Stacking the Balance Sergeant Sy Devall gave the Fifth Branch of the Bank of Saspia another once over from his station in the corner of the room. Everything looked calm and peaceful. The lines weren't nearly as bad as they would be later. There were only about a dozen people waiting, and there were three tellers' windows open for them to use. It was just another calm, peaceful day. He yawned. A calm, peaceful, *boring* day. He looked down and smiled as a little girl with light violet hair skipped up to him. She stopped in front of him and smiled. She held out her hand. A Jurai Royal Teardrop was clutched in the tiny fingers. "For you," she said, and giggled. Devall smiled and took the flower from her. "Thank you, little girl. You should go back to your mommy, though. A bank is no place to play around." The little girl smiled and nodded. Devall returned the smile and took a sniff of the flower's fragrance. Suddenly, he felt weak. His legs melted beneath him, and he hit the floor unconscious. Achi Ze'tal stood over him and grinned. "Dullard," she commented. At that moment, three figures entered the bank. One was a blonde man with short hair and wearing a black trench coat. Another had short brown hair and wore a grey trench coat. The third was an eight foot reptile with a plume of white feathers on his head. He was dressed in a red cloak that hung down to his feet. Achi looked back at the group and nodded. The blonde man nodded back. The man in grey pulled a double barrelled anti-matter gun from his jacket and fired a blast into the ceiling. Chunks of plaster exploded downward from the impact. The bank patrons screamed and ducked, turning to the source. The blonde man drew a pistol from his jacked and raised his voice so that everyone could hear him. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he called out, holding his gun up so that it was plainly visible. "This is a hold up! Tellers, please step back from your windows, the rest of you put your hands on top of your heads." He checked his watch. Assuming one of the tellers had triggered the silent alarm they had about four minutes. "Achi!" he called out. Achi started towards them. Halfway there she stopped and took a look at one of the patrons. There was something about his mental state that troubled her. It clicked. "Davner! This one's got a piece!" she cried, pointing out a man in a Belegese business suit. The grey jacketed man rushed up to the businessman and smashed the butt of his AM gun into his face. The man hit the ground unconscious. Davner reached down and removed a pistol from the man's pocket. Achi proceeded onward. The blonde man had his pistol against an older, bald man's head. Achi stood aside and waited. She knew what he wanted her to do. She focused her thoughts on the bald man. "Now, then, Mr..." he read the bank manager's name tag, "Goonin. What's the access code to the vault?" He smiled and pretended he had all the time in the world. he thought. Goonin shook his head and sputtered. "I..I don't have it," "He's lying," Achi said matter-of-factly. Goonin went pale. The blonde man sighed and took a step back, pointing the gun at the man's forehead. "You heard her," he said in sympathy. "TWO-SIX-OH-THREE!" Goonin cried, shutting his eyes as he shook in terror. The blonde man nodded. "Achi, Ssedrey, the vault. Davner, start working on the cash drawers." The grey jacketed man nodded and tossed the blonde man the AM gun. The blonde man caught it deftly with one hand and holstered his pistol with the other. Meanwhile, the lizard and little girl went back to the vault. Davner jumped over the counter and stood behind one of the teller's windows. The three tellers kept their hands up and looked at him in fear. Davner threw them a smile and opened the drawers. He removed a large, cloth sack from his pocket and began emptying the cash drawers into it. He looked up at one of the tellers, a young, attractive, pink-haired woman who looked scared out of her mind. He gave her a wink and continued. the blonde man thought, anxiously. He looked up and saw a security camera taping him. He smiled and stuck his tongue out at it. As Achi and Ssedrey were coming out of the vault, Achi carrying a sack of paper money, Ssedrey a sack of gold bars, Davner was emptying the last drawer. He smiled at the pink-haired woman and stuffed a wad of pilfered bills into her hand. "Here you are, young Miss, a token of my esteem. Please buy yourself something nice." He grinned. Achi heard this as she was passing and turned. She reached up and slapped Davner in the back of the head. Then she reached out and took the money out of the pink-haired woman's hands. She stuffed it into her pocket and started for the door. "Dolt," she commented under her breath. Davner smiled at the woman and shrugged. Then, he too turned and started for the door. The blonde man checked his watch again. "Okay, that's it! Let's go!" He started for the door of the bank, followed by Achi and Ssedrey. Davner brought up the rear, who turned at the door and gave a short bow. "You've been a wonderful audience. Please be sure to tip your waitress." He tipped an imaginary hat to them and walked out the door. "You see?" Davner asked, "A walk in the park." Cavis Darktower, the gang's leader smiled and nodded in agreement. They were standing next to Cavis' ship, the Agamemnon, in the hangar they had rented for it two weeks ago. The gang's other two ships, Davner's Azure Cloud and Ssedrey's Talon of the Blood Mist, were parked nearby. "A walk in the park, Dav," Cavis agreed with a grin. "And here I thought that security may have actually *improved* in our absence." Davner grinned. Before the gang had broken up four years ago, they had hit that same bank twice inside a three month period. "Some planets never learn," Davner pointed out. Achi's head appeared at the hatch of the Azure Cloud. "Davner, Ssedrey's having trouble getting into your computer system. Could you help us?" "Tell Scales I'll be right there," he drawled in his thick Mollidoni accent. The "young" Penzatan nodded and ducked back inside. Davner made his way to his ship and disappeared within it. Cavis turned and patted the side of his ship. "Aggy, old girl, next stop, Reefana Four." He paused for a second, then turned quickly, his pistol in his hand as he found the target he had detected barely a moment ago. A man in a dark green cloak stood at the entrance to the hangar. His face was hidden by a hood, his eyes glowed a deep blue. Cavis arched an eyebrow. He recognized the species by the eyes. he thought. The Narkratat stepped forward. Cavis raised the gun a hair. "That's close enough." The alien stopped. "Cavis Darktower," it hissed, "I am here to repay debt to you." Cavis arched an eyebrow. "Don't recall doing a Narkratat any favors," he said with a grin. The alien hissed from beneath its hood. "You do me dishonor," it said. "No, it's just that so many people owe me something, I can't find time to collect on *all* of them." The alien hissed again. "Five years ago, you killed my master, Yanto." That was a name he hadn't thought about in a *long* time. "An Assassin," Cavis told him as the memory resurfaced. "Accepted a contract on me from the Guild." The Narkratat nodded. "I was there when you killed him. I was his apprentice." "Then you're a member of the Assassin's Guild as well," Cavis concluded, raising his blaster a little higher. "Yes," the Nakratat nodded. "You killed him and spared my life. For that, I owe you debt. I repay debt now." Cavis said nothing. "Your friend on Earth, and her companions..." Cavis' eyes widened. "What *about* Ryoko?" The alien hissed. "She's going to die." "Three days," Cavis told them that night as the gang gathered for dinner in the dining compartment on the Agamemnon. "In three days, the Assassin's Guild is going to make a move on Ryoko and her friends." "But why?" Achi asked. "What for?" "From what he told me, someone in the Jurain government is getting ambitious. After the whole coup de'tat situation last year, they feel the monarchy can no longer handle the responsibility so they're going to wipe out the heir apparents, then convince the ruling council on Jurai to force the King to step down. In order for it to work, there can't be any witnesses. That means everyone in that house when the Guild gets their is going to be a target." "Can't we warn them with a message?" Achi asked. Ssedrey hissed and shook his head. "If the Assassin's Guild follows their usual procedures, they will set up a jamming field around Earth while they prepare to strike. By the time a message from here would reach the planet, the jamming field would be in place." Davner grinned. "Rescue time," Cavis nodded. "How many Assassins are we dealing with, Cav?" Cavis cleared his throat and mumbled, "Ammmfaman." Achi blinked. "Huh?" Cavis took a breath and faced them. "All of them." Preparations were made to leave the next morning. Cavis went to the forward compartment, leaving the other three gangsters alone in the dining compartment. Achi looked scared. Cavis and Davner had told her about the Assassin's Guild. She shuddered. They were merciless. They killed purely for profit. Not idealism, not nationalism, not self defense, purely for profit. A Termination Contract would be issued, and the Assassin's loosed upon the target. Either the target would be killed or the Assassin that was contracted. If the Assassin was killed, the contract was considered null and void and the target was given a reprieve. If the Assassin was not killed... She shuddered. At least the bounty hunters only killed dangerous criminals. Nagi had captured Davner and went after Ryoko, but she wasn't necessarily evil. Bounty hunters were in it for the money. Assassins were in it for the killing. "Well, now," Davner drawled. "If you will excuse me, I have something I need to take care of back on the Cloud." "I'll go with you," Achi piped up. Davner shook his head. "No, Little One, I want you to stay with Ssedrey when we go tomorrow." "Huh? Why?" "His ship is more heavily armored. You'll be safer there." Achi's eyes narrowed. "I get it. You're having a lady friend over and you just don't want 'Little Achi' getting underfoot." Davner grinned. "Jealous?" Achi hmph'd. The dark haired gambler rested a hand on her shoulder. "If I had another thousand years in me, Achi," he whispered, "I'd wait for you to grow up, and seduce you proper." Achi felt her cheeks grow warm as she blushed. She blinked for a minute befoe snarling, "Yeah, as if! What would I want a vagabond like you for?!" Davner grinned and turned. "I'll see you in the morning before we go. Even'n all." With that, he left the Agamemnon. Achi watched him go. "Ssedrey?" she asked several seconds later. The eight foot Asconian looked down at her. "Do...you think I'll be pretty? When I grow up, I mean." Ssedrey blinked. How in the name of Ssiranus was *he* supposed to know? Really, these mammallian types were always so preoccupied with themselves. Still, Achi was only a little girl, and Ssedrey knew that while the question seemed unimportant to him, it was very important to her. "I believe you will have no rival in the galaxy," he told her. He added a hiss of emphasis. Achi jumped up and hugged him. "Thanks, Ssedrey!" she cried. "You always know the exact right thing to say!" Ssedrey arched an eyebrow. "Err....of course." Aboard the fast attack ship, Vendetta, the infamous leader of the Assassin's Guild, Narkaya Sudorin, observed the blue ball known as "Earth." He wore all black, from his boots to his cape. Even his hair was black, grown long and held back behind him in a pony tail. A scar ran up the right side of his face from his mouth to his eye, a gift from his first kill, who had not taken kindly to being hunted. Sudorin smiled at the memory and turned his attention back to the planet. It was the biggest contract the Guild had ever taken on. Three targets and fifty-six Assassins, the bulk of the Assassin's Guild. The prize, Three hundred and sixty million credits. But there was more. The targets themselves. Sudorin had been an Assassin since he was sixteen, and in that time he had never hunted targets like the ones he was hunting now. Three members of the Jurai Royal family. He smiled. "Big game, indeed," he whispered. His navigator and chief lieutenant, Warshan De, spoke up from behind him. "We are ready at any time, Lord Sudorin." "Wait a moment," Sudorin ordered. "I want to savor this." Warshan nodded. Sudorin turned back to the planet. "All right, here's the plan." Davner's face adopted a grin. "You mean we're actually going to have a plan this time?" Cavis smiled back at the screen. It was split between Davner's face and Ssedrey's, Achi's face could be seen below Ssedrey's as she fought for more space. Cavis continued. "By the time we get there, the Guild may already be on them. We're gonna go in and just transport them up to our ships. Don't try landing or taking on the Assassins by yourselves, just grab whoever you can as fast as you can and run like hell." "Then what, Cavis?" Achi asked. "I left you each a program on your computers. It's instructions of what to do if we get seaparted. Follow them to the letter and you should be okay. The file name is Cav829." They all nodded. "Okay, we'll make Earth orbit in six minutes. Get ready." Ayeka swept the front steps of the shrine with about half as much enthusiasm as she usually did, which wasn't much to begin with. She paused in her chore and sighed, looking up at Tenchi and Ryoko, sitting together off at the other end of the shrine. Tenchi was sketching Ryoko while she sat there, her hands clasped in front of her and a smile on her face. She fought back tears for the hundredth time. she thought. It was true. She *had* given him up in order to get Ryoko to rescue him from Haruna's dream world. Now, she had to live with the consequence of her decision. It still hurt like hell, though. Sasami heard the knock on the front door and answered it. Mihoshi and Kiyone stood there, smiling at her. "Oh, hi, Mihoshi. Hi, Kiyone. I'm so glad you could make it today!" Kiyone smiled and stepped inside. "Well, you know us, never ones to pass up on a free meal," she quipped. Mihoshi nodded and added seriously. "That's because we can't afford to eat too often." Kiyone threw her a venomous look. It softened a second later, and she handed Sasami a bag. "We brought some sake and some soda." "Oh, thanks! But you didn't have to." "Where is everyone?" Mihoshi asked. They're all already up at the shrine, waiting. Except for Mr. Masaki and Grandfather. They're both on vacation in Australia." "Australia?" Mihoshi asked. "Like with the kangaroos and stuff?" "Yeah," Sasami replied with a smile. "They said we were responsible enough to be left alone for a week, so they left. Grandpa promised to bring back a koala bear for Ryo-Ohki." Perched on top of her head, Ryo-Ohki miya'd in excitement. Sasami laughed. Kiyone wasn't sure if she should point out that it would probably be illegal for them to bring back an animal like that, but figured that bringing that up would just disappoint the little princess and the cabbit without reason. So she remained silent. Instead, she changed the subject. "A picnic up at the shrine," she commented. "It's a wonderful idea, Sasami." "Thanks. The food's almost ready. Will you help me carry it up there? I made a bunch of food, and it's too much for me to carry by myself." The two detectives nodded. "Sure," Mihoshi said. "Which way?" "How's this?" Ryoko asked, lacing her hands behind her head, leaning back, and winking. "Okay," Tenchi said as he sketched. "Just hold that pose, okay?" "No prob." While Tenchi sketched her, Ryoko couldn't help but feel a glimmer of excitement. It was if everything had changed overnight. Ayeka had all but given Ryoko her blessing, and to top it off, Tenchi was spending more and more time with her. The fights between she and Ayeka had dropped off to virtually nil, and the Princess had even stopped insulting her and dredging up the past. For the first time since crashing on Earth, Ryoko felt like she belonged there, and that the people around her *wanted* her there. It was a heady experience. The only other people she had been this close to were Cavis and the gang. She briefly wondered how they were doing. She broke her pose when she saw Sasami, Kiyone, and Mihoshi coming up the steps toward them. "FOOD!" she cried and disappeared, reappearing directly in front of them. "Need help?" she asked with a grin. "Um...sure," Mihoshi replied uncertainly. She passed Ryoko one of the bags she had been carrying to Ryoko, who was licking her lips in anticipation. She opened the bag and looked inside. Only to shriek and jump back a second later as a purple tentacle reached out of the bag and waved at her. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?" The nasal, childish voice of Washu spoke up from behind the princess and the detectives. "It's my latest experiment. I call it...'the Tentacle of Doooooom!'" "Why? Does it destroy stuff?" Ryoko asked as she watched the Tentacle of Doom reach out of the bag and grab a nearby twig. "No," Washu replied. "But just plain, 'tentacle' sounds so dull." Washu stepped forward and picked up the bag. "Come here, baby. Mommy's here." The Tentacle of Doom made a wet, gurgling noise and touched Washu's face. The petite scientist didn't cower, she smiled. "Ahhh," she cooed. "Kisses for mommy?" Ryoko's eyebrow twitched. "Um...okay." "So where should we put this stuff?" Kiyone asked. "Over there," Ryoko told them, chucking her thumb at a grassy clearing near the shrine. "We set up earlier, so there's blankets and stuff already there." She began to lead them to the area they had set up for the picnic when they heard several dull roars from above them. Ryoko blinked and looked up. Several starships were approaching them from above. They all had different designs and came in several different sizes. there were about ten of them. "What the...." Suddenly, the lead ship stopped above them and fired down at them. A blue light shone down from the ship, covering the entire shrine and everyone in it. They screamed and covered their ears. "Sonic...disruptor....." Ryoko managed to get out. She tried to call Ryo-Ohki to her so that she could go up there and fight back, but the tiny cabbit was rolling around on the ground in agony. She knew she only had seconds before the disruptor caused every organ in her body to implode, but she couldn't do anything. She was helpless. "Tenchi..." "There they are!" Cavis cried as their three ships entered Earth's atmosphere. "Remember the plan! Good luck guys!" Tenchi tried to banish the noise from his head, but the sound found him even with his hands clapped over his ears. He screamed, but couldn't hear his cries over the disruptor. He looked up and saw three more ships coming toward them. He blacked out and saw no more. Ssedrey targeted the lead ship and fired. Unlike traditional weapons, his pulse cannon could not be stopped by force fields or armor plating. We watched the pulse fly straight through the ship's shields and tear a hole in its starboard side. The Assassin's ship began to wobble from side to side as it tried to recover. The running lights flickered, and the disruptor disappeared. He looked down at his screen and saw that the Agamemnon and the Azure Cloud were already taking damage from the other Assassin's Guild ships. He half turned. "Achi!" "I.....got a lock!" she cried. "How many?" "Five!" "I got a lock on one!" Davner cried as the Cloud took another hit. "But I won't have it long!" Cavis' voice came over the speaker. "Move fast, Dav!" Davner began working the controls on his transporter. Cavis watched as plasma bolts from his own ship raked across the hull of an Assassin's ship. He looked down and checked his computer. He had a lock on three of them. It would have to do. He triggered his transporter. Ryoko's eyes opened just in time to watch the world dissolve around her. She fell back into unconsciousness. Cavis listened to his communicator as Ssedrey and Davner checked in. "Got 'em!" "Got them!" "Got 'em! SCATTER!" he ordered, nosing his ship around and pointing it at the sky above. He was thrown forward as the Agamemnon took another hit. "Damn!" The ship shuddered as he poured on the throttle. Blue sky was replaced by stars as he left the atmosphere. He looked right and saw the Azure Cloud not far behind him, being battered by positron cannon from two different Assassin's Guild ships. The Talon of the Blood Mist was doing far better, evident by the sight of plasma bolts bouncing off Ssedrey's shields. A pulse blast shot out from Ssedrey's ship and tore into an Assassin. The enemy ship spun out of control and began to fall back to Earth. He began plotting a hyperspace course. He didn't have much time. His ship lurched again, and a warning claxon went off. He could hear the hiss of the fire suppression system kicking in. The Agamemnon took another hit. He could hear the sound of metal bulkheads being torn apart. "Come on, Aggy, just a few more seconds..." The light on his navigation board blinked green, the signal that he had a course. He hit the hyperspace initiator and held on as the Agamemnon entered hyperspace. The computer was practically screaming at him in Mollidoni that everything that could possibly go wrong, *had* gone wrong. Davner hit his board and waited for the navigation computer to give him a green light. The Cloud lurched again, and he was thrown forward, his head hitting the forward console. He growled as blood flowed from a gash on his forehead. His aft screen showed three more Assassin's ships coming up behind him. "Dammit," he muttered. "MONDIEN SENDALA VES DIEN!" the computer repeated. "I know! I know!" he cried, not caring that the computer didn't care if he heard it or not. He grinned as he watched one of the ships on the screen was struck by a pulse blast. It spun out of control, fuel and plasma leaked from the wound it had sustained. The other two ships split up as Ssedrey's ship dived between them. "Thanks, Scales," Davner said to himself. His navigation board lit green. He hit the initiator, and the Azure Cloud entered hyperspace. "WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!" Achi cried out in victory as Ssedrey hit another Assassin's Guild ship with the pulse cannon. Ssedrey's computer informed him that four more ships were approaching from the surface. He arched an eyebrow. That brought the total number of ships up to fifteen. That was too many for the Talon of the Blood Mist to take on alone, even with its advanced technology. He prepared to enter hyperspace as the ships bore down on him. Then he saw something that made his eyes go wide with shock... And just a touch of fear. Coming up from behind the other Assassin's ships was an Asconian Dentara class gunboat. The Assassin's Guild had one of Ssedrey's people in their ranks. "Hold onto something," he told Achi. The little Penzatan grabbed a control panel and held on. Ssedrey threw the Talon into hard right roll, and not a moment too soon. The Dentara was already firing on them with its own pulse weapon. The pulse weapon was a weapon unique to the Asconians. It operated on an entirely different wavelength than other weapons known throughout the galaxy. It was created by simulating the explosion of a star within the weapon's priming chamber, then launching the energy particles created there at the target. It devoured matter, laying rest the old law that held that matter can neither be created or destroyed. This law was not written by Asconians, so they did not feel bound by it. Because the weapon was so different than anything else used in the galaxy, there was no real defense against it. The pulse went straight through shields as if they weren't there, and ate away armor plate as quickly as it would tissue paper. It gave him a tremendous advantage. Now this advantage rested with a larger, faster, more powerful ship. The Talon of the Blood Mist shuddered at the near miss. Ssedrey's onboard computer calmly informed him that their subspace antennae had been reduced to nothingness. He hissed in annoyance and ordered his navigation computer to begin charting a course. He saw the gunboat swerve toward him and threw the Talon into a hard left. This time, there was no shudder, it had been a clear miss. Ssedrey targeted the vessel with his aft cannon and began to fire. The cannon wasn't a pulse weapon, but it would certainly make the gunboat captain think twice. The computer informed him that a course had been set. Ssedrey hit the initiator just as the other Assassins' ships opened fire on him. They're shots hit pure nothingness. Sudorin watched the last ship disappear and smiled ruefully. For three hundred and sixty million credits, he should not have expected it to be easy. He turned as one of his communications screens came on. A reptilian face appeared. "You were slow, NeSster," Sudorin accused him. "I apologize for my lack of suitable speed, Lord Ssudorin." NeSster, captain of the Dentara gunboat, Terror of the Night's Blood, hissed. His plume of white feathers had been shaved on either side of his head, giving him what the Terrans would call a "mohawk." "Be faster next time." "Yes, Lord Ssudorin." NeSster brandished his remaining fang. The left one had been knocked out during a hunt several years ago. "Have all our ships search along their last vectors, then split up and hunt the Royals to ground." NeSster swallowed nervously at Sudorin's dangerous tone. As a rule, NeSster was not frightened of mammals. They were prey, nothing more. Lord Sudorin, however, was the single exception to this rule. Lord Sudorin was most certainly *not* prey. "At once, Lord Ssudorin." NeSster's face disappeared from the screen. Sudorin took a breath. One ship destroyed, three damaged, one seriously. It was a demoralizing feeling to have your prey snatched from your jaws before it was dead. Sudorin didn't like that feeling. Not one bit. "Warshan, calculate a hyperspace vector and take us out. Order two ships to assist the damaged ships with repairs." "Yes, Lord Sudorin." Sudorin smiled dangerously. "The hunt begins." To Be Continued... AUTHOR'S NOTES: That's it. The first part of "Destiny's Balance." Stay tuned for the next, three part installment, "Skirting the Balance." Okay. Let me know what you think. Send C&C to Thomas "009" Doscher doscher009@hotmail.com More to come.